


A Swift Kick in the Right Direction

by LJLanham



Category: Chicago Fire
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-15 02:00:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29056326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LJLanham/pseuds/LJLanham
Summary: Casey and Severide are both being idiots. It takes a swift kick from an unexpected source to get them moving in the right direction. Maybe not totally realistic, but exactly what my little shipper heart needed about now. #Brettsey with a healthy dose of #Stellaride
Relationships: Stella Kidd/Kelly Severide, Sylvie Brett/Matthew Casey
Comments: 7
Kudos: 106





	A Swift Kick in the Right Direction

**Author's Note:**

> My second work in the One Chicago universe and my first time dabbling in #Stellaride ... comments are always welcomed and appreciated.

Matt noticed Kelly’s car when he arrived at the restaurant, and began to wonder if he’d missed a memo about an officer’s meeting over breakfast. He walked and was not surprised to see his best friend sitting across from Boden.

“Kelly,” he said, “Chief.”

“Casey,” Boden replied. “Glad you could join us.”

“Sorry I’m late, there was a construction detour on Wabash,” he said. “Are we waiting for Herrmann?”

“No,” the chief replied as the server came over to take their orders. “This is more of an unofficial meeting.”

“Oh,” he said, surprise covering his face as he glanced over at Kelly.

Kelly responded with a look that said, ‘Your guess is as good as mine.’

Both men looked up when Boden let out a long sigh.

“Lord knows, I try to avoid drama and stay out of whatever is going on in your personal lives. What you do on your time is your business, but you two are officers and when you bring it in to my house, it becomes my business.”

“Chief, I…” Kelly began, but was stopped when Wallace lifted his hand.

“There is a reason in-house dating is frowned upon,” he said. “As long as it doesn’t affect the rest of the firehouse, I have always found it best to turn a blind eye. But the two of you have issues that are affecting my fire house and it’s gone on long enough.”

“Chief,” this time it was Casey who tried to speak up but was stopped by the Battalion Chief.

“Severide, the tension between you and Kidd is so thick we could take an axe to it. It’s affecting the running of the house. It’s obvious to everyone that one or both of you is avoiding the other. I don’t know what’s going on, but I also don’t want it to affect her taking the Lieutenants Exam. Kidd has potential to be the kind of officer the CFD needs more of and I don’t want whatever is going on between the two of you to get in the way of that.”

Before Kelly could respond, Boden turned his attention to Matt.

“And Captain Casey, don’t think you’re off the hook. For months now, anyone with a pair of eyes could see there was something going on with you and Brett. After the Ambo accident and your jumping off a moving fire truck, I’ve had the relationship paperwork on standby. But you never came to see me. In fact, the awkward tension between the two of you started to give Severide here a run for his money. And it’s only gotten worse since the Lieutenant from 40 started hanging around all the time.”

Matt and Kelly glanced at each other, neither knowing what to say… and then realizing that the Chief wasn’t finished.

“Whatever is going on, it’s time the two of you get your heads out of your asses and fix it.”

This time, it was Kelly’s turn to sigh.

“I have been avoiding her,” he said.

“What?” Casey replied. “Why? I thought you were getting ready to propose.”

“I was,” Severide answered. “I am. But I’ve been trying to give her space, at least until she gets through the exam.”

“And just why would you want to do that?” Boden asked. “We all expected you to help her get ready for the exam.”

“I know,” Kelly said on another sigh. “You know the day you sent Stella downtown to sign up for the exam? I had to run an errand at HQ later that day. I ran into Chief Conway who told me that the only reason Stella was moving up so fast was because she was sleeping with me.”

“That son of a….”

Kelly stopped the Chief from finishing his thought by continuing. “So, I thought it would be better for her if I took a step back. Let her prove herself without any help from me. Stella Kidd is a damned good firefighter and she’s gonna make one hell of a Lieutenant, and I’ll be damned if I’m the reason she doesn’t get what she’s worked so hard for.”

“Let me guess,” Boden said. “She doesn’t know a thing about all this.”

“No,” Kelly replied with a shake of his head.

“Oh, Kelly,” Matt said. “That’s not good.”

“No, it’s not,” the Chief agreed, “but don’t you worry, we’re gonna get to you in a minute. Severide, you have to tell her. I’d venture to say that this space you’ve put between the two of you is doing her more harm than good. She’s tough, she can handle the rumor mill. She might even agree with your way of handling things, but you have to let her know what’s going on.”

“I don’t know, Chief,” Kelly said.

“I do. You’re going to tell her. Today. As soon as we get to the house. Now that we have that settled, Casey what’s your story?”

Matt spent the next few minutes telling an abridged version of the story he’d told Kelly over cigars a few weeks ago. Ending with the fact that it wasn’t what he wanted, but he was abiding by Sylvie’s wishes and giving her the space she asked for. He confirmed that she was sort of dating Grainger and he’d even been on a date himself. He only went out with Sydney one time before he realized that he wasn’t ready to move on from his feelings for Sylvie and dating Sydney wasn’t fair to any of them.

“So,” Kelly replied. “In typical, martyr Matt Casey style, you’re going to stand on the sidelines and eat your feelings, watching Brett date that douche from 40 instead of just telling her how you feel? That’s messed up.”

“Look who’s talking.”

Boden just shook his head. Donna was right, for two smart and talented guys, these two really were idiots when it came to matters of the heart. He was glad he’d let her talk him into sitting down with both of them like this. He’d never admit it out loud, but his wife knew that both of them were like sons to him and since both of them had lost their fathers, he was happy to step in where he could.

“It’s time for us to head to the house,” he said. “Severide, I mean it. You tell Kidd today what’s going on. Casey, your situation is a little different due to the inclusion of Lieutenant Grainger, but you’re not off the hook. You’re going to tell Brett how you really feel, too. Just maybe not today. Let’s go,” he added, standing up and taking care of their bill.

~~~~~~~~~~@~~~~~~~~~~@~~~~~~~~~~~

Boden shook his head as he parked his buggy on the apron of 51 just in time to see Lieutenant Grainger pulling off, no doubt having dropped Brett off for shift. At least Casey was a few minutes behind him and wasn’t subjected to the visual.

He climbed out of the vehicle and made his way into the house, through the common room and the bullpen to his office. He still had some time before shift started and he’d be holding a briefing meeting with his crew.

~~~~~~~~~~@~~~~~~~~~~@~~~~~~~~~~~

After the briefing, everyone was filing out of the meeting room. Sylvie and Stella were talking as the chief walked past them.

“Today, Severide,” he said to Kelly as he passed.

“Yes, sir,” Kelly replied and followed him out.

“What do you think that was about?” Sylvie asked.

“No clue,” Stella replied. “But then again, I really don’t know what is going on with him these days.”

“You really have to talk to him, Stella.”

“Oh, really?” Stella replied, “You mean the way you talked to Casey?” Stella said as she followed Sylvie into the locker room.

“Not fair. And not even close to the same thing. What you and Severide have is real. My feelings for Casey were just a fantasy. He’s never going to be over Gabby, and I’m not going to be a placeholder.”

“Did he tell you that?”

“What?”

“That he’s still in love with Gabby? I mean, I know why you’d be worried, but I live with the man. He never talks about her. Ever. You know, we have never really talked about this. In all our girls’ nights, me staying over at your place… every time I bring it up, you change the subject.”

“It’s not exactly a fun topic of conversation, Stella,” Sylvie replied. “It’s humiliating. I practically threw myself at the man, and he’s still in love with his ex-wife, who is supposed to be one of my best friends.”

“And that’s another thing,” Stella said. “You, Sylvie Brett, are loyal to a fault. When was the last time you heard from Gabby?”

“Umm,” Sylvie bit her bottom lip. “I don’t know. The last time she was here?”

“Exactly. Same here. She’s not your best friend, Brett. I don’t even know if I’d say she was your friend. I honestly don’t really think of her as mine. We talked a lot when she first left, but it was always me who did the calling…”

Sylvie nodded in agreement.

“… and when I stopped calling, we stopped talking. I’m kind of over the whole, ‘Great Gabriela Dawson’ thing. And if you look around the house, there are as many people who don’t know her as who did. As far as they’re concerned, you are the baddest-ass paramedic around.”

Before Sylvie could respond, the bells went off for a call involving 61 and Squad. She took off toward her rig, but Stella had given her a lot to think about.

~~~~~~~~~~@~~~~~~~~~~@~~~~~~~~~~~

The day had been pretty busy but as evening fell, it seemed to get quieter. As everyone was eating dinner, Kelly leaned over Stella’s shoulder and asked her if she would come talk with him in his quarters. She nodded and watched him walk out of the common room.

She glanced to Sylvie with a questioning look as she got up to follow him. Sylvie gave her the thumbs up, hoping this was the talk that her friends needed. She was about to get up herself, when her phone alerted her to an incoming text. She glanced down and saw that it was from Greg and smiled.

“Things are getting serious with you and Grainger?” Matt asked, trying to sound casual. He knew the Chief said he might need to wait, but he was encouraged by Severide stepping out of his comfort zone to fix things with Stella. Maybe this was his chance, too.

Sylvie shrugged. This was the last conversation she wanted to be having.

“I don’t know,” she answered honestly. Greg was nice, and she was enjoying his company but if she were being honest, she wasn’t really that in to him. “We’re just taking it one day at a time. What about you and Sydney?” biting her lip as she asked the question that had been on her mind more than it should.

Matt shook his head. “Nah,” he said. “That lasted one date. She’s a great girl,” he went on. “But it’s really not fair of me to see her when my mind is on someone else.” He hoped she’d get his meaning and he’d tried not to spook her by mentioning his mind instead of his heart.

“Yeah,” she said. “It’s never fun being second best.” She stood from her seat at the table, but before she could walk away, Matt had reached for her hand.

“Sylvie,” he said, looking her directly in the eye. “You could never be second best.” Please, he thought. Please let her see what I’m trying to say.

“Matt,” she said, reluctantly pulling her hand from his. “I can’t do this. Not now. Not here.”

Not now, not here. That seemed promising, was she telling him she was open to talk? After his talk with the chief, he wasn’t going to waste another opportunity.

“What about off-shift?” he asked. “Tomorrow? Have lunch with me.”

“I don’t know, Matt,” she said.

“Look,” he said. “I know it’s not fair, you’re with Grainger. And if he makes you happy, I won’t stand in your way. But, Sylvie. There are things that I really need to tell you. I screwed up. You caught me off guard, but that’s no excuse. I should have put my words together better. And to be honest, I’m kind of tired of being noble. I never really talk about what I want, I’m too busy trying to do what I think everyone else needs. Have lunch with me tomorrow. Let me tell you what I should have told you before. After that, if you still want space or Grainger, or whatever… I won’t stand in your way.”

Why couldn’t he have said this months ago? Sylvie let out a long sigh. She didn’t know what the right thing to do was, but she had already admitted to herself that she wasn’t really happy with Greg. Maybe she owed it to herself to listen to what Matt had to say.

“Okay,” she said.

“Yes!” Matt exclaimed with a smile. He actually felt better than he had in a long time.

~~~~~~~~~~@~~~~~~~~~~@~~~~~~~~~~~

“… and so the idiot thought he was protecting me,” Stella said, sitting across from Sylvie in the back of 61. She’d just finished giving her best friend the Cliffs Notes version of her talk with Kelly. “And the thing is, it’s not really a bad idea. The less we’re seen together and the more work I do getting ready for the exam with other people, maybe it makes those jerks think twice…”

“He still should have told you,” Sylvie said. “I mean, you were almost ready to break up over his distance. And what’s going to make those jerks sit up and take notice is you acing every one of those freaking tasks on the Lieutenants Exam.”

“You know it!” Stella replies with a high-five across the back of the ambo. “What about you? How are things going with Grainger? I haven’t seen you two at Molly’s lately.”

“He would rather hang out with his crew at this sports bar over by 40,” Sylvie answered. “It’s okay, but it’s not Molly’s.”

“I get that,” Stella said. “Every house has their place. Molly’s is ours. But you are ours, too, Brett. I’ve missed you.”

“Stella, you’ve practically been living at my apartment.”

“I know, but it’s not like we spend a lot of time there other than sleeping,” Stella replied. “Oh, and I guess I’ll be going back to the loft now, too.”

“Good!” Sylvie replied and then laughed at Stella’s pretend hurt reaction. “You know what I mean. I loved having you around. But you need to be with Kelly.”

“And you need some alone time with your hot Lieutenant.”

“Yeah, about that…”

“I knew it!” Stella exclaimed. “Sylvie, you’re never going to be able to move on if you don’t talk it out with Casey.”

“I know,” she replied quickly, much to Stella’s surprise. “We’re having lunch tomorrow.”

“Oh, really?” There was something in the tone of Stella’s question that made Sylvie blush. “And I haven’t seen that look in a long time. Do tell, Sylvie Brett, do tell.”

Just then, the bells went off for a call for Truck and Engine.

“Saved by the bell,” Sylvie said with a smile as Stella hopped off and headed to grab her turnouts.

~~~~~~~~~~@~~~~~~~~~~@~~~~~~~~~~~

Matt was on his way out the door to meet Sylvie for lunch, when he got the text alert. Sylvie was asking him if they could do dinner instead.

“Sure,” he texted back. “Is everything all right?”

“Yeah,” she answered by text. “I just need a little more time. Why don’t we do dinner here? I’ll cook.”

“Sounds good,” he replied. “I’ll bring dessert.”

“Six?”

“I’ll be there.”

“That was weird,” he said, putting his phone back in his pocket.

“What?” Kelly asked from his place next to Stella on the couch.

“That was Sylvie,” he said. “We were supposed to meet for lunch. But she wants me to come to her place for dinner tonight instead.”

“My girl!” Stella cheered with a smile. “Not to jinx anything, but this bodes very well for you, Captain.” She said, grabbing a notebook and pen from the coffee table. She scribbled something quickly before tearing off the paper and reaching it out to Casey. “This is her favorite Rose. They sell it at that little liquor store on the corner a couple of blocks from Molly’s. Pick up a bottle before you go over there. Maybe two.”

~~~~~~~~~~@~~~~~~~~~~@~~~~~~~~~~~

Matt tried to contain his nerves as Sylvie opened the door for him.

“Come in,” she said, with a hint of nerves in her voice as well.

“Something smells great,” he said, following her in to the apartment.

“It’s Shepherd’s pie,” she said. “Something that reheats well… in case we get too busy talking.”

Too busy talking? That was definitely a hopeful sign.

“Here,” he said, handing her the bottle of wine. “This is for you. And I brought cannoli from that Italian bakery you like down the street from Molly’s.”

“Is this…” she looked at the bottle as a big smile spread across her face. “How did you…”

“Stella,” they both said at the same time.

“Thank you,” she said. “That was very thoughtful.”

“So,” he said. “Not that I’m complaining, but why did you want to have dinner instead of lunch?”

“True confessions?” she asked, waving him to sit down on the couch as she opened the wine.

“That’s what we’re doing here, right?”

“I had breakfast with Greg,” she said. “I thought about what you said, and no matter what happens here tonight… I haven’t been fair to him. No one wants to be second best, right?” she said with a sad smile. “I couldn’t keep seeing him.”

“You broke up with him?”

She nodded, biting her lip.

“I mean, there wasn’t really anything to break up. But I thought I should resolve that before we … talked.” She walked over and handed him a glass of wine as she sat down next to him. “I wasn’t thinking,” she said. “Would you rather have something else?”

“No,” he said, sitting his glass down on the coffee table. “This is good.”

“So.”

“So,” he repeated.

“You said there was something you needed to say,” she said. “I’m all ears.”

He drew in and then let out a long breath.

“First, I need to apologize for being a jackass. I didn’t even realize that you didn’t really understand what I was trying to tell you. You know I’m not so great with words, and I guess I was being more vague than I intended to be.” He watched as she took a sip of her wine, her eyes never leaving his. “That night,” he said, “when you asked me about Gabby, at first I was blindsided. She was obviously the last thing on my mind. I didn’t really know what you were asking, and I just said the first thing that came to my mind.”

“I don’t know,” Sylvie repeated those words that she’d come to hate so much.

“But Sylvie, I did know. I do. I told you the next time that we talked, that I don’t think about Gabby. She’s not the person that’s on my mind, you are. But it’s more than that. She’s not the person that’s in my heart, Sylvie, you are. Instead of answering the question you asked, I’m going to answer the one you were really asking. I’m not in love with Gabby. I haven’t been for a long time. And I’m sure as hell not sitting around waiting for her to come back.”

He waited while Sylvie let out the breath she didn’t know she’d been holding, and he reached out to take her hand.

“You asked me if I’d go with her, and the answer is not just ‘no,’ it’s ‘hell, no.’ She did ask me to go with her, and I turned her down. She asked me to use my furlough to come and visit her, but I never did. Sylvie, I don’t want to be with Gabby. Gabby is my past, but I hope that you are my future.”

“Matt,” she replied. “You don’t know how much I want that to be true. But I was there, I saw your great love. You called her your miracle, for god’s sake.”

“Yes,” he said. “You were there. And you were her partner. I’m sure that in that ambo, you heard plenty every time she was pissed at me. You know that we were apart more than we were together. We fought more than we were happy. Hell, she only agreed to marry me so she could adopt Louie. And she still tried to keep me out of the paperwork. Gabby is a force of nature, and she’s not meant to be reined in. I loved her, but she wasn’t my great love.”

He paused, taking a drink from his glass. He took her hand, making sure she was really listening to what he was saying.

“I’m not Sev, I’ve never been good with women. When I lost Hallie, I figured I’d never love again. But Gabby was there, she got me through it and I assumed that we were supposed to be together. But it never really worked. We were never in sync about anything. She kept me out of the loop on all the important stuff…” he closed his eyes and centered his thoughts. He was sure he’d been rambling.  
“Sylvie, what I’m trying to say is that you could never be a placeholder. If anyone in this scenario is, it’s Gabby. She put me back together when I lost Hallie, and kept me together until I was ready for you.”

He looked at her expectantly as tears formed in the corners of her eyes.

“Well, for someone who isn’t good with words, that was pretty damned good, Matt Casey.”

“It felt like my last chance to get it right,” he said, smiling. “And I wasn’t taking any chances. Oh, and I have one more thing to say, just in case I haven’t been clear enough. I love you, Sylvie Brett. I’m crazy about you, and I would love nothing more than to try and build a future with you. One day at a time.”

~~~~~~~~~~@~~~~~~~~~~@~~~~~~~~~~~

Three weeks later, the Firehouse 51 family was gathered at Molly’s to celebrate their newest officer. As predicted, Stella had aced the Lieutenants Exam, even setting new records in a couple of the drills.

Wallace Boden held his wife to his side as he looked out over the team who truly had become his family. He was especially proud of Casey and Severide as they celebrated with Brett and Kidd, together as the couples they were meant to be.

“Looks like your boys finally got their heads out of their asses,” Donna said with a smile.

“They might have had a little help,” Wallace replied, bringing his whiskey glass to his lips. “And a swift kick in the right direction.”


End file.
